Oh, Connor!
Dec. 5th, 2002 12:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhConnor Icon! Connor Icon!
GIP thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thebratqueen
And now,
I don't have a car, and I don't drive. Usually, this isn't a problem. I don't go anywhere. For those times (few and far between, trust me) when I am inspired to actually do something, I have a bus pass. My city isn't known for its public transportation. We don't have a subway, trains or, truthfully, an effective bus system. As long as you stay near downtown it's not too bad, but it wouldn't be a very interesting story if I had stayed downtown.
On Monday, I went to class, and saw someone carrying a book. I realized that this book, which I do not have a copy of, will be the focus of our discussion and test on Wednesday. I am cheap. I do not want to buy the book. It looks boring, and it's non-fiction, which I rarely enjoy. The Campus Library does not have an available copy of the book. The city libraries do, but only at one location, and I don't have time for them to ship it to a closer location.
On the map, the library doesn't look too far from campus. Also, it's along a nearby bus route, so I won't have to switch buses.
I decide to take the bus. Pay attention, because this is where everything goes wrong.
I was very well prepared for the bus. I wrote down landmarks and street names that I'll pass to be sure that I get off at the right stop. I go to my stop, repeating over and over "Bus #2, Bus #2, Bus #2," to make sure I get on the right bus.
11:00 AM: I get on the #2. I ride for an hour and a half before starting to worry that I still haven't seen the first of the landmarks. That's not a problem, because it's the end of the bus's route anyway, and we're now heading back to campus.
2:00 PM: Back at Campus. I realize my problem- I had got on the bus on the wrong side of the road. Therefore, I spent all that time heading away from the library. I cross the street and wait for the next #2 bus.
2:30 PM: I'm going the right way! I pass the first of the landmarks I wrote down! However, I get kicked off the bus at this landmark because, apparently, "This bus don't go no further." Turns out there are actually three kinds of #2 buses: #2 to Crossroads, which is the one I want, #2 to Graceland, which stops about 15 miles short, and the #2 to the Park of Roses, which I'm on now. I get off the bus, walk to the nearest stop, and wait. It starts to snow. I'm in front of the Park of Roses, but there are no roses. To make up for that fact, there are plenty of leafless, dead-looking, horror-movie-set-escapees trees. There are also no houses in sight. They're all hidden behind the creepy trees. In about ten minutes, the #2 to Graceland bus comes and I take it, because I've become convinced that there are serial killers waiting for me in the bushes and that the tree branches are reaching out to get me.
3:00 PM: I get dumped at Graceland, which turns out to be a Shopping Center. As I get off the bus, I see the bus I need pulling away across a busy street. I jump up and down and make a fool of myself. They don't wait. Although Graceland has a lot more people and much fewer killer trees than the Park of Roses, it happens to be the ghetto. And I'm alone. And, you know, an 18-year-old girl. It begins to snow harder and the temperature drops to about the temperature where oxygen freezes. After sitting on a bench for half an hour and loosing feeling in my fingers and cheeks, I find a dollar in change in my backpack and decide to visit a Taco Bell. (Motto: Food cheaper than gum!) I'm standing in line, 90 seconds after leaving the bench, when I see the bus pull up. A bean burrito and 35 minutes later, I actually manage to get on the bus.
4:00 PM: I'm on the bus! The right bus! I might actually get to the library!
5:00 PM: Went to Library! Got the book! Now I only have to wait for the bus (Dear God, not again) to take me back! This bus stop however, does not even have a bench, much less a cozy little plastic shield to protect me from the snow, which is still falling. In fact, the bus stop consists entirely a post with the words #2 written on it. And it's right in the middle of the front lawn of a very nice house. I spend half an hour sitting in their grass, leaning against the post, and trying to turn pages with gloves on.
5:30 PM: I'm back on campus! I have the book! Now I have to read it before the test tomorrow morning, in 18 hours! I decide to go to a coffee shop, figuring it'll be less distracting than my room.
7:00 PM: I finish the book. (It was short.) I try to leave the coffee shop and go home, but when the first bus pulls up, I notice that I'm missing my bus pass. I have to go back to the shop and find it, but, of course, the bus does not wait.
7:30 PM: I get home. Unfortunately, I missed dinner in the cafeterias, and will now have to eat Ramen Noodles.
And the end of the story: The book turned out to be the best book I've read all quarter, and I desperately want a copy of my own. The campus bookstore is located directly across the street from my dorm. If I had just bought it in the first place...
The Moral? Obviously, if given the choice, always buy the book.
GIP thanks to
thebratqueenAnd now,
I don't have a car, and I don't drive. Usually, this isn't a problem. I don't go anywhere. For those times (few and far between, trust me) when I am inspired to actually do something, I have a bus pass. My city isn't known for its public transportation. We don't have a subway, trains or, truthfully, an effective bus system. As long as you stay near downtown it's not too bad, but it wouldn't be a very interesting story if I had stayed downtown.
On Monday, I went to class, and saw someone carrying a book. I realized that this book, which I do not have a copy of, will be the focus of our discussion and test on Wednesday. I am cheap. I do not want to buy the book. It looks boring, and it's non-fiction, which I rarely enjoy. The Campus Library does not have an available copy of the book. The city libraries do, but only at one location, and I don't have time for them to ship it to a closer location.
On the map, the library doesn't look too far from campus. Also, it's along a nearby bus route, so I won't have to switch buses.
I decide to take the bus. Pay attention, because this is where everything goes wrong.
I was very well prepared for the bus. I wrote down landmarks and street names that I'll pass to be sure that I get off at the right stop. I go to my stop, repeating over and over "Bus #2, Bus #2, Bus #2," to make sure I get on the right bus.
11:00 AM: I get on the #2. I ride for an hour and a half before starting to worry that I still haven't seen the first of the landmarks. That's not a problem, because it's the end of the bus's route anyway, and we're now heading back to campus.
2:00 PM: Back at Campus. I realize my problem- I had got on the bus on the wrong side of the road. Therefore, I spent all that time heading away from the library. I cross the street and wait for the next #2 bus.
2:30 PM: I'm going the right way! I pass the first of the landmarks I wrote down! However, I get kicked off the bus at this landmark because, apparently, "This bus don't go no further." Turns out there are actually three kinds of #2 buses: #2 to Crossroads, which is the one I want, #2 to Graceland, which stops about 15 miles short, and the #2 to the Park of Roses, which I'm on now. I get off the bus, walk to the nearest stop, and wait. It starts to snow. I'm in front of the Park of Roses, but there are no roses. To make up for that fact, there are plenty of leafless, dead-looking, horror-movie-set-escapees trees. There are also no houses in sight. They're all hidden behind the creepy trees. In about ten minutes, the #2 to Graceland bus comes and I take it, because I've become convinced that there are serial killers waiting for me in the bushes and that the tree branches are reaching out to get me.
3:00 PM: I get dumped at Graceland, which turns out to be a Shopping Center. As I get off the bus, I see the bus I need pulling away across a busy street. I jump up and down and make a fool of myself. They don't wait. Although Graceland has a lot more people and much fewer killer trees than the Park of Roses, it happens to be the ghetto. And I'm alone. And, you know, an 18-year-old girl. It begins to snow harder and the temperature drops to about the temperature where oxygen freezes. After sitting on a bench for half an hour and loosing feeling in my fingers and cheeks, I find a dollar in change in my backpack and decide to visit a Taco Bell. (Motto: Food cheaper than gum!) I'm standing in line, 90 seconds after leaving the bench, when I see the bus pull up. A bean burrito and 35 minutes later, I actually manage to get on the bus.
4:00 PM: I'm on the bus! The right bus! I might actually get to the library!
5:00 PM: Went to Library! Got the book! Now I only have to wait for the bus (Dear God, not again) to take me back! This bus stop however, does not even have a bench, much less a cozy little plastic shield to protect me from the snow, which is still falling. In fact, the bus stop consists entirely a post with the words #2 written on it. And it's right in the middle of the front lawn of a very nice house. I spend half an hour sitting in their grass, leaning against the post, and trying to turn pages with gloves on.
5:30 PM: I'm back on campus! I have the book! Now I have to read it before the test tomorrow morning, in 18 hours! I decide to go to a coffee shop, figuring it'll be less distracting than my room.
7:00 PM: I finish the book. (It was short.) I try to leave the coffee shop and go home, but when the first bus pulls up, I notice that I'm missing my bus pass. I have to go back to the shop and find it, but, of course, the bus does not wait.
7:30 PM: I get home. Unfortunately, I missed dinner in the cafeterias, and will now have to eat Ramen Noodles.
And the end of the story: The book turned out to be the best book I've read all quarter, and I desperately want a copy of my own. The campus bookstore is located directly across the street from my dorm. If I had just bought it in the first place...
The Moral? Obviously, if given the choice, always buy the book.
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Date: 2002-12-05 07:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-12-05 10:18 am (UTC)